Yemen Negotiators Urge to Avoid Security Vacuums - UN Security Council

The Daesh and al-Qaeda terrorist groups are likely to seize on any gaps in a security structure being negotiated in Yemeni peace talks now underway in Kuwait, the UN Security Council warned in a statement.

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — Following the April 10 onset of a cease fire in Yemen’s civil war, negotiators began talks between government and rebel forces to form a government of national unity late last week. The talks in Kuwait are being led by Special Envoy of UN Secretary-General for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.

Yemen’s civil war broke out when army units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh joined Shia Houthi rebels attempting to overthrow the government headed by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

A coalition of Sunni-led Gulf Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia entered the conflict in March 2015, waging air strikes on the Houthis as well as on al-Qaeda militants who had taken control of parts of the mountainous nation.

"The Security Council expresses its strong concern about intensified terrorist attacks, including by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant [Daesh]," the statement, unanimously endorsed by all 15 nations on the Council, said on Monday.

The Security Council also encouraged "all Yemeni parties to avoid any security vacuums that can be exploited by terrorists," the statement added.

On Monday, the Saudi-led coalition claimed to have killed more than 800 al-Qaeda militants, including a number of leaders.